Automatic railway-switch.



F E. BAHMLER.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Patented J an. 22, 1918.

APPLICATlON FILED IBM-3,1917- F. E. BAHMLER. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN13, 1917- Patented Jan. 22,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I ya

mural FLOYD E. BAI-IMLER, 0F s'c'iLoN, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-SWITCH;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan; 22, 1918,

Application filed January 3, 1917. Serial No. 140,447.

To all whom it may oon'cepn: v

Be 1t known that I, FLOYD BAHMLER,

a citizen of the United States, residin at Solon, in thecounty' ofJohnson, State of Iowa, have invented certain new anduseful Improvementsat Automatic Ra lway- Switches; and I do hereby declare the fol lowingto bea' full,"cl'ear, and exact description of the invention, such aswillienable others skilled in the art to whicliflitappertains to makeand use the same. f

This invention relates to improvements in railway. switches andparticularly to automatic switches.

One object of the present invention is to provide a novel and simpledevice of this character by means of which the switch can be opened andclosed by a passing train without the necessity of stopping the trainand throwing the switch by hand by the brakeman,

Another object is to provide a novel and effective means for locking theswitch in position, after having been actuated, and holding the switchin such position until the entire train has passed over.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a railway and switch equippedwith my improved locking device.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on theline 22 of F 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical transverse sectional view taken on theline 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the locking mechanism, in operative position,with fragments of the surrounding railway connected there with, theparts being enlarged.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig, 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

Referrin particularly to the accompanying drawing, 10 represents therails of the main line, and 11 the rails of the branch line, the pivotedswitch points being shown respectively at 12 and 13.

Extending beneath the rails, at the point of contact of the points ortongues 12 and 13, with the main rails, is a sliding bar 14,

said bar being mountedin suitable guides 15., At a point a suitabledistance from the switch, and extending under the rails, is a secondsliding bar 16, a centrally pivoted rod or lever 17 being pivotallyconnectedto the corresponding ends of said bars whereby theirsimultaneous movement is accomplished. Secured onthe bar 14, between therails, is a longitudinally extending block 18. one of the longer sidesof which is curved outwardly, as shown at l9. At a correspond ing pointon the other bar 16, is a similar block 20, having the same side curved,as -at- 21. The bar 14 is formed with a longitudinal slot 22, upwardlythrough which eXtends a lug 23, carried by the free end of a spring arm24 secured within the casing 25 mounted beneath the said bar. In thelower portion of the curved face of the first block 18 is a recess 26for the reception of the upper end of said lug, when the switch tonguesare in normal or open position.

The operation of the device may be briefly described as follows:Assuming the switch to be in normal or open position, and a train whichis moving along the main track desires to pass onto the branch. A member27 carried by the engine of the train is let down in position to engagewith the curved side of the block 18 which moves said block to one sidesliding the bar 14 and causing the shifting of the switch tongue 12 inclosed position against one of the main rails, while the other tongue 13is shifted away from the other main rail. This movement is communicatedto the other bar 18, by means of the connecting rod or link 17. When thetongues touch the main rails the spring arm causes the lug to snapupwardly from the recess and engage against the face of the curved sideof the block 18, thus holding the switch in closed position. A membersimilar to the engine member 27 carried by the last car or caboose ofthe train is let down to a slightly greater degree than the enginemember, so that the upper end of the lug will be depressed into aposition opposite the recess, whereupon the usual spring which holds theswitch in open position, will immediately move the switch tongues intotheir normal open position. The above-mentioned caboose member isidentical in construction to that of the engine member, and it is notthought necessary to illustrate the same.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the train can readily throw theswitch into closed position at such a distance from the switch as torender the device safe, and that by lowering the caboose member the lug23 will be engaged and depressed whereby the parts will be released andpermitted to assume their normal positions, thus restoring simultaneousmovement, a block carried by each of the bars for engagement by a trainto move the tongues into open position initially, means to close theswitch automatically, and means for automatic engagement with each ofsaid blocks for holding the switch in closed position, saidholding meansbeing releasable by the train.

2. In an automatic railway switcha pair copies of this patent may beobtained for of movable switch tongues, a bar slidable beneath therailway and connected to the said tongues, a block carried by the barand engageable by a train to move said bar and tongues into closedposition, said block being" 7 formed with a recess, a spring arm mountedbelow the bar, said bar being formed with a slot for the reception ofthe end of said spring arm whereby said end will normally engage in saidrecess, said end being ar-.

ranged to engage with said block to hold the tongues in openposition,said end being arranged to be depressed by train to release theswitch.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my'signature v in the presence of twowitnesses.

FLOYD i3, BAHMLER.

Witnesses: GEORGE ULoH, M. EDELSTEIN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 7Washington, D. G. Y

